Brewing half a batch on brewing system

mrbeerin

Hi guys!
I was wondering if I could get a design input for a 10HL brewhouse.
My question is regarding the design of the brewhouse and fermentor, I'd want to brew a few 5HL batches in a 10 HL brewhouse without affecting the overall efficiency and the end product.
What considerations/design changes would I be looking at ?
Few points that id thought of :
-Splitting the jackets in the boil kettle to control the steam just for the 5HL
-RTD placement in the mash kettle and boil kettle for 5 HL
-RTD placement in the fermentors to accommodate 5HL
Possible lautertun design ?
Anything else that I need to consider?
Thank you!!
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MikeyB

Whirlpool inlet height, and thermowell placement on fermenters...

dick-murton

The location of the cooling jackets in relation to the wort level.  No point in having cooling jackets above the level of the wort!  And don't use the cone cooling jackets to control (or rather, not control) fermentation - at least, not based on my experience.  

mrbeerin

Hey Dick! Thanks for the reply. Just a query, why not use cone jackets for cooling for a smaller batch. ? What changes did you observe ?
Also would lauter tun design make a difference ? My concern is the efficiency on a smaller batch vs the regular batch brewed.
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gitchegumee

I don't think you'll ever get a half batch at efficiency of full batch.  So if efficiency is your major concern, then brew a full batch.  Compromises must be made on half batches.  Are they really worth the extra hassle & inefficiencies?  BTW, I always use cone cooling when fermenting.  Otherwise the flocculated yeast warms/autolyses quickly.  Yeast make an excellent, but inconvenient insulator.  Dick, why would we NOT use cone cooling?

dick-murton

Perhaps the coolant was too cold, or the cooling jackets too large for that volume, but whatever the reason, by the time the probe, (which was well covered by beer) switched off the coolant, the wort had overcooled by sufficient that it struggled to get going again.  When we had larger volumes, with sidewall jacket only in use during fermentation there was never a problem.  However it should be noted that the wort / beer didn't run very far up the sidewall with half brews, so the reason was probably very poor recirculation currents.  So I always warn people that although in theory you should be able to control the fermentation, in practice, you might not be able to.  We tried a few times, but every time the result was the same.
So I always warn people that although in theory you should be able to control the fermentation, in practice, you might not be able to.  Never had a problem in jumbo breweries though!!